A: The contents of the international monetary system generally include: (1) determination of international reserve assets. That is, what kind of currency should be used as the international payment currency and what kind of international reserve assets should be held by a government in order to safeguard the principle of international payment and meet the needs of adjusting the balance of payments. (2) Determination of exchange rate system. How to determine and maintain the exchange rate between a country's currency and other currencies, whether it can be freely converted into payment currency, and whether to adopt a fixed exchange rate system or a floating exchange rate system. (3) Balance of payments adjustment mode. When the balance of payments is unbalanced, what methods should governments take to make up for this gap, and how can policies and measures among countries coordinate with each other? (4) Forms and institutions of international monetary cooperation.

The international monetary system can be distinguished from the form of reserve assets and exchange rate system. Reserve currency or standard currency is the foundation of the international monetary system. According to the international reserves, there are gold standard, gold exchange standard and credit standard. The gold standard only regards gold as an international reserve asset or an international standard currency; The credit standard system only regards foreign exchange (such as dollars or pounds) as international reserve assets, and has nothing to do with gold. The gold standard takes both gold and directly convertible currency as international reserve assets. Exchange rate system is the core of the international monetary system, which can be divided into fixed exchange rate system and floating exchange rate system. Sometimes, the international reserve currency and exchange rate system can also be used as standards for the classification of the international monetary system. For example, the fixed exchange rate system under the condition of gold standard, the fixed exchange rate system based on non-cash banknotes (such as US dollars), the adjustable fixed exchange rate system with gold and foreign exchange as reserves or the managed floating exchange rate system, and the purely free floating exchange rate system without retaining international reserve assets at all.